Mumbai (Mid-Day): In yet another instance of supposed protectors preying on the defenceless, two assistant inspectors and a constable from Sakinaka police station were arrested yesterday for raping a 29-year-old model.

What’s worse, the model was raped in a place where she should have been the safest inside a police chowkie. She had been forced to accompany the officials there as they had threatened to implicate her in a false case if she refused.

The policemen and three others, including a woman, allegedly also extorted Rs 4.5 lakh in cash, and some gold jewellery, from the model and her boyfriend. The three other accused are still absconding.

While the horrific incident took place on April 3, the model gathered the courage to complain to Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria only on Tuesday. She had fled the city after that night, fearing further harassment.

Casting call

Recounting her ordeal, the survivor said that she had gone to a five-star hotel in Sakinaka, near the international airport, for the casting of a film, where she met an agent and his friend. The agent asked her to go to one of the rooms on the pretext of meeting production staff. The survivor refused and she rushed out of the hotel.

When she was walking away from the hotel, a police vehicle pulled up, and the occupants, three policemen in plain clothes Assistant Police Inspectors Khatape and Suryavanshi and Constable Kode from Sakinaka police station stopped her. They asked her to get into the vehicle or they would implicate her in a false case.

The policemen took her to a police chowkie in the jurisdiction of MIDC police station and raped her till the wee hours of April 4. The woman has also accused the policemen of assaulting her before the incident.

Extortion

After the rape, the policemen told the woman that they wouldn’t let her go unless she paid them a few lakh rupees. The woman called her boyfriend, who came with R4.5 lakh in cash, and some gold ornaments. They gave the money and the jewellery to the cops and the model was released from the chowkie in the morning of April 4.
Complaint

The model, who came back to the city recently, sent an SMS outlining her ordeal to Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria on Tuesday and met him on Wednesday. Maria ordered immediate action. Based on her statement, the MIDC police, in whose jurisdiction the incident took place, registered an FIR, and the case was handed over to the Crime Branch for investigations.

The Crime Branch arrested the two assistant police inspectors and the constable yesterday. Three others, including a woman, who allegedly assisted the policemen in the extortion, are absconding. “Such black sheep will not be tolerated in the force. We will ensure that each one of them gets the harshest punishment,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti.

All the accused have been booked under Sections 376 (Rape), 354(A) (Sexual Harassment), 384 (Extortion) 341 (Wrongful restraint), 342 (Wrongful confinement), 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and 34 (Common intention) of the IPC. They will be produced in court today

Photo credit Mid-Day